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Five teen-agers arrested in connection with vandalism spree

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Anchorage police arrested five teen-agers accused of going on a vandalism spree that involved bashing at least 50 cars with baseball bats and setting fire to two.

Police said the youths caused at least $50,000 in damage early Wednesday.

The first report of trouble was received about 1 a.m. from the Spenard neighborhood, said Detective Glen Klinkhart. The vandals then apparently drove through Government Hill, Mountain View and Muldoon.

In addition to damaging cars, the youths also shattered the windows of a police cruiser parked at an off-duty officer's residence and tried to set it ablaze using fireworks, police said.

A woman called police on her cell phone about 5:45 a.m. and said teen-agers were vandalizing cars in a residential area in east Anchorage.

The caller followed the teens' two cars from a distance and described them to police, Klinkhart said. Officers stopped the cars and apprehended the youngsters without incident.

''They were out with a couple of different baseball bats to basically destroy cars,'' Klinkhart said. ''We're still getting reports in. We estimate about 50 now, but it could go higher than that.''

Police arrested Corena Bell, 19; Lewis Kirk, 18; Raul Caballero, 18; and two female juveniles, ages 13 and 16. All five were charged with three counts of second-degree criminal mischief, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. They also face one count of attempted criminal mischief.

Bell was being held at the Sixth Avenue Correctional Center in lieu of $6,000 bail. Kirk and Caballero were being held at the Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility in lieu of $10,000 and $6,000 bail, respectively. The two girls were being held at McLaughlin Youth Center.

None of the five arrested appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Klinkhart said. It appears to be nothing more than a night of kids being wild and causing ''senseless destruction,'' he said.